"Alright, sweetheart, take these into the changing room," Tessa says with a beaming grin, practically vibrating with excitement as she places a towering stack of garments into Jade’s arms. The pile reaches well over the kobold's head, and the weight nearly topples her. She stumbles through the curtain with a yelp, disappearing into the booth.

  "Isn’t this too much?" comes Jade’s muffled voice from behind the curtain, followed shortly by the unmistakable sound of a neatly folded stack collapsing into chaos on the floor.

  Lady Silfy, Master Ren, and I are seated on a modest bench in the back of , Stonebrook’s most unremarkable tailor’s boutique. We’re here to purchase a few additional outfits for Ren’s pet lizard, as the single robe she arrived in is no longer sufficient. After just two days of magic training with Ren, it has been thoroughly soiled, torn in multiple places, and set on fire. Twice. The garment is now in such a state of disrepair that it gives the unfortunate impression she’s been mistreated.

  "Nonsense, darling! You need to try on of things so we can find the perfect fit for you!" Tessa calls back cheerfully. She’s the owner of Rosita’s Fashions—named after her daughter—and seemed oddly thrilled to discover we were shopping for Jade.

  "But I’m not sure about ..." Jade squeaks, her voice strained like she’s wrestling a horned rabbit rather than getting dressed.

  “How has she been adjusting?” Silfy asks, her gaze fixed on the rippling curtain with a concerned expression that suggests she’s bracing for the answer to be “not well.”

  “She’s doing a lot better than her first night,” I reply with a casual shrug.

  “You sure? I saw her sleeping under the bed last night,” Silfy says, raising an eyebrow at me.

  Her concern isn’t unfounded. On Jade’s first night at Griswald’s estate, she attempted to sleep in the second bed in Ren’s room. Unfortunately, Jade is a rather... animated sleeper. That wouldn’t normally be a problem—if she didn’t have horns, spines down her back, and claws on both hands and feet. As it was, her tossing and turning shredded the sheets, tore open the mattress, and left her waking up on the floor wrapped in what was left of the bedding and surrounded by a flurry of goose down.

  Ren has since asked me to enchant her with a restful sleep spell while she’s with us. It wasn’t hard to get her to trade for a little blood. It's been a while since I’ve had kobold blood. Not as sweet as human, but interesting all the same.

  “She has a leather mat now that can handle her spines,” I add. No sooner do I speak than we hear a distinct from behind the curtain. Tessa and Silfy both wince, while Ren lets out a heavy sigh and plants his face in his palm.

  “Which is more than I can say for that garment,” I finish dryly.

  “Help,” comes a pitiful cry from behind the curtain.

  Tessa swiftly pulls it open to reveal Jade tangled in an expensive-looking frilly pink dress, hopelessly ensnared. She appears to have attempted to pull it over her head, but only succeeded in trapping her head and one arm. The rest of the garments are scattered around the changing room, with a white blouse caught on the spines of her tail—now waving behind her like a tiny, tattered flag of surrender.

  “Oh dear,” Tessa gasps, hurrying inside to extricate the kobold from her frilly pink straightjacket.

  “Ma’am, she doesn’t need a dress. She needs something durable—something she can actually adventure in,” Ren protests.

  To be fair, it might seem odd that we’re shopping for adventuring gear at a boutique. But we aren’t here solely for my amusement. Not The truth is, none of the local armorers or tailors were particularly eager to design clothing around such… unique anatomical challenges.

  “Men don’t comment on fashion!” Tessa fires back, yanking the curtain shut again.

  “But the one paying for this,” Ren groans, directing his frustration skyward.

  “She’s eating better, at least,” I offer, trying to find a silver lining. “Turns out, it was just a matter of giving her meat and vegetables raw.”

  “I caught her munching on beetles in the garden this morning,” Silfy smirks. “Then she had the nerve to complain about the lack of variety.”

  From behind the curtain, the sounds of Jade’s grunting and straining are joined by Tessa’s exasperated huffing.

  “This is somehow worse than last time,” Ren mutters under his breath.

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  “She and Ren have been getting along well. He seems genuinely happy to have someone his own age… sort of,” I say, glancing toward the curtain.

  “Sure, they get along great,” Silfy replies quietly, “but I don’t understand the hyper-aggressive, self-imposed training regimen. They literally trained until they passed out yesterday from mana exhaustion.”

  “Before that, Ren was sparring with the guardsmen. And he won,” I add, a hint of pride in my voice.

  Silfy gives me a puzzled look, clearly surprised at how casually I accept Ren’s brutal schedule. I can’t help but chuckle at her expression. If only she knew he usually trains alongside five golems, each imbued with a part of himself.

  The curtain suddenly swings open, and Tessa steps out, beaming with pride. Jade follows, dressed in a canary-yellow skirt and matching blouse, both visibly torn in several places from the dressing ordeal.

  “Tada!” Tessa announces.

  Jade looks thoroughly unamused.

  “No,” Ren, Silfy, and I say in unison.

  Tessa flinches at the unanimous rejection, then slides the curtain shut with dramatic indignation.

  “Try on the next one yourself, darling. I’m going to bring us some options,” she huffs, storming off toward the front of the store.

  “Something please,” Ren calls after her, his tone strained with polite desperation.

  Turning slightly toward Silfy, I ask, “How’s Griswald’s construction project coming along?” I’d been watching closely as she, Diana, and Griswald poured themselves into designing an ambitious fortress—one that any reclusive old warlock would be proud to call home. The fact that it’s being built atop a dragon’s lair only adds to the mystique.

  “The initial blueprint draft is finished, we’ve hired the builders, and the construction materials are already on order,” Silfy says, ticking each item off on her fingers. “We’re scheduled to break ground tomorrow. The master wants Ren and Jade to join us.”

  “He specifically needs the kobold?”

  “Yes. The master has plans for her,” Silfy confirms without missing a beat.

  “Beyond comic relief?”

  Before Silfy can answer, the curtain is pulled aside—this time by Jade herself. She steps out dressed in a massive coat, so oversized that most of it trails along the floor behind her like a second cloak.

  “This coat is definitely tougher,” she says, sounding more tired than annoyed, “but I think it could fit three of me. I’d need stilts just to walk properly.”

  “Oh no no no!” Tessa exclaims, hurrying back into view with a small stack of freshly folded garments. “That wasn’t meant to be in your pile. Must’ve slipped in by mistake while I was sorting in a rush!”

  She sweeps into the changing room with Jade and tugs the curtain closed behind them.

  With them out of earshot, I lean toward Silfy. “While we’re still in town, would it be possible for you to put in a formal request to meet with the adventurer who calls himself Shadow?”

  Naturally, I don’t Silfy’s help to contact Shadow—he and Ren are one and the same. But as far as anyone knows, Ren and I have never met him. It would be strange for Shadow to simply appear and begin training the kobold without an official reason.

  However, if Silfy, acting on Griswald’s behalf, were to request a meeting, that gives us a legitimate excuse to involve him without revealing Ren’s secret.

  “That won’t be a problem at all,” Silfy replies with a nod.

  A moment later, the curtain opens for the final time and Jade steps out. She’s now wearing a fresh version of the same style of robe she arrived in, but this one is layered over a durable padded tunic and a slightly oversized set of chainmail. She glances down at herself with visible satisfaction, then turns in a slow circle to show it off.

  “It’s basically just a thicker version of what I had,” she says, nodding in approval.

  “I have three sets of those robes ready for you to take home today,” Tessa announces proudly.

  Ren throws up his hands. “Why didn’t you start with that?”

  “It’s important to explore your options,” Tessa says with a dismissive wave, already pulling out a notepad and jotting down a running tally of garments and prices.

  “What about her light sensitivity?” Ren presses. “She still needs something to cover her eyes—a hat or a hood, at least.”

  “A hat? Oh, I’ve got just the thing,” Tessa says with far too much enthusiasm as she rummages through a box overflowing with mismatched headwear.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask,” Silfy says casually, glancing in my direction, “what exactly was Gavin meeting with you and Ren about the other night?”

  At the mention of his name, Ren subtly perks up, pretending not to listen while clearly doing just that.

  “He’s investigating a threat against the King’s life,” I say calmly. “It’s all very hush-hush, so don’t take it personally that he didn’t explain. The amulet he brought was supposed to help identify the threat, but it was broken. Doesn’t work.”

  Everything I’ve said is true. I just leave out the parts that matter. I don’t mention that the amulet was designed to detect fae. I don’t say that the threat he’s looking for was me. And I certainly don’t say that the reason the amulet no longer works is because I shattered it.

  “What about this one?” Tessa places a blue hat on Jade’s head. Its brim is folded up on three sides, forming an odd triangular shape that does little to block the light.

  “That doesn’t block the sun at all,” Ren groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “Yeah, but she looks like a little pirate,” Tessa replies brightly, clearly pleased with her own fashion sense.

  “What’s a pirate?” Jade asks, tilting her head. “Is that something I’m supposed to want to be?”

  “Yes, dear,” Tessa answers without hesitation.

  “No, it absolutely is not,” Ren counters, exasperated.

  Amidst the contentious debate over headwear and privateer vocations, my thoughts turn to Captain Gavin. When we first met, I didn’t see a need for him. I hadn’t recognized his potential, but Ren did. Now, after spending more time with him, I see that Gavin could become a valuable pawn in our plans. That realization is what led me to take a more diplomatic approach that night—and I’m glad I did. Thanks to that choice, he may be able to help resolve several of our long-standing problems sooner than expected.

  Ten minutes later, we exit Rosita’s Fashions. Jade marches proudly in her new adventurer’s outfit—robes, tunic, chainmail, and atop her head, a wide-brimmed straw gardening hat decorated with cheerful flower patterns.

  Ren is not so cheerful. The shopkeeper not only charged him for the three sets of robes and the hat he specifically requested, but also added charges for six other items Jade had damaged in the process of trying them on.

  “She’s lucky she didn’t tear down the whole shop,” Ren mutters under his breath as we make our way down the street.

  “What would you give to make that happen?”

  “Stop it Willow.”

  “I’m just presenting you with options.”